Marketing

With a specialization in Marketing, you can explore marketing fundamentals and expand your knowledge of integrated marketing, customer loyalty and behavior, strategic brand management, new product development, channels of distribution, and much more.

Completion Requirements

39 total semester credits

Core courses (27 sem. cr.)

Integrative capstone (3 sem. cr.)

Specialization courses (9 sem. cr.)

This sequence represents the minimum time to completion. Time to completion will vary by student, depending on individual progress and credits transferred, if applicable. For a personalized estimate of your time to completion, call an enrollment advisor at 855-646-5286.

Managing First Things First

Effective managers know how to identify, prioritize, and act upon the most important items of the myriad of tasks that can potentially distract them on any given day. Students will explore the qualities of effective managers and various management styles to identify those which resonate. They will examine critical skills that are imperative to successful management, including organizing and handling priorities; communicating effectively; motivating, empowering, and developing people; resolving issues and challenges; and managing oneself. Students will gain valuable skills and knowledge that they can apply immediately.

Dynamic Leadership

Being an effective leader is essential in business and demands that an individual has a strong set of competencies, including the ability to understand one's self, motivate others, understand organizational culture, and manage ambiguity. In this course, students begin their personal and professional transformation by closely examining their current strengths and weaknesses, values, decision-making processes, and approaches to dealing with difficult problems. Students also explore leadership in turbulent times by examining how effective leaders think as well as how various management styles impact situations and relationships within an organization. Topics include key leadership concepts with applications to authentic situations; personal leadership and competency assessment; personal and professional development planning; and ethical values-based leadership decision making.

Managing People and Promoting Collaboration

Contemporary business environments are increasingly competitive, global, fast paced, and knowledge intensive. In these environments, effective use of human capital is vital to an enterprise's success and survival. In this course, students will explore practical issues related to developing individuals and managing collaboration and will examine the skills and strategies necessary to address them effectively. Students will examine ethical and legal implications of managing a diverse workforce including issues that arise from cross-cultural differences and virtual work settings. The importance of communication as a tool to manage internal and external relationships is emphasized as it relates to the effectiveness of managing people to achieve organizational goals. Topics include planning and executing staffing strategies, developing individuals, fostering positive work environments, creating and sustaining teams, maintaining influence in the organization, managing a global workforce, managing programs for productivity improvement, and planning and managing the human side of organizational change.

Communication for Leaders and Managers

The ability to communicate with others influences success in both professional and personal settings. As communities and places of work become increasingly diverse, the intersections of interpersonal and intercultural communication also increase, and communicators need to be aware that the cultural diversity of their audiences should affect the way they convey information. Students in this course examine interpersonal and intercultural intersections and study the influence of cultural diversity on interpersonal communication. By examining theory, students develop an approach to practice and hone individual strategies for communicating successfully in diverse interpersonal situations. Topics include interpersonal communication theory, intercultural communication theory, individual communication competence, nonverbal channels, person perception, conflict resolution, and listening and communication barriers.

Initiating and Managing Change

Today’s business environment is constantly evolving to accommodate changes in economy, leadership, new regulations, and internal reduction and growth. Organizations require leaders who know how to work through barriers to effect positive and efficient organizational change. Students in this course learn about situations that constitute and require such change. They engage in a variety of assignments through which they explore effective strategies for initiating change and anchoring change into corporate culture to achieve organizational goals as well as for managing unplanned or unwelcome change. Students explore a variety of approaches and methods to transition individuals and organizations within evolving environments. They distinguish between reactive responses and proactive responses to change and examine the implications of culture, inertia, and uncertainty. Additionally, students explore the importance of understanding motivation and effective communication in mitigating negative reactions to change and facilitating the change process itself.

Managing, Mediating, and Resolving Conflict

Managers and leaders must be skilled in conflict management including the capability to mediate or resolve conflict at the interpersonal through organizational levels. Students in this course explore the challenges of managing people in times of perceived conflict and dispute, and they work toward developing skills to identify different types of conflict situations. Students will gain the knowledge of methods and tools to prevent, manage, and break inherent conflict. Students also consider the implications of emotion and the multifaceted array of conflict-management styles—factors for which professionals must account. They engage in hands-on, practical exercises in general contingency thinking and action approaches and communication styles designed to help them resolve conflicts and move toward win-win outcomes.

Harnessing the Power of Data and Information

Effectively using data and information can make the difference in whether the best decisions are made or problems are solved correctly. There are multiple approaches to practical managerial problem solving that are rooted in the systematic collection, analysis, and display of relevant data and information. In this course, students examine the importance of data, beginning with the process of transforming data into information, and then focusing on the best methods for presenting that information in support of sound and ethical decision making. Students evaluate common misinterpretations or errors in working with data and determine how to detect data and information presented in a deceptive manner. Students explore current paradigms in data-based decision making and problem solving. They learn how they can use these analytical-thinking practices to improve their general managerial decision-making skills.

Critical Thinking for Effective Management

Managers encounter a variety of challenges on a daily basis, which require the ability to employ existing tools and strategies to strategically communicate with individuals and the organization at large and to understand the different types of attitudes and values of others. Individuals with these skills are most successful when their efforts are coupled with the ability to think critically and analytically. Students are provided with the opportunity to improve their overall critical-thinking and reasoning skills within a managerial context. Using relevant management articles, case studies, and current topics analyses, students sharpen their diagnostic-reading skills and learn to construct effective, ethical, evidence-based arguments, which are fundamental capabilities of effective managers. They also examine common fallacies in thinking and reasoning as well as the rhetorical use of language to formulate convincing and effective arguments.

Budgeting and Resource Allocation

Managing business processes often involves careful planning and forecasting, taking into account many factors, such as expenses, investments, and, often times, unforeseen financial obligations. Students in this course explore the role of budgeting and resource allocation along with related processes within the organizational context. They examine processes related to managing budgets and strategies to read and communicate effectively the often complex financial information related to unit and organizational performance. Students also explore and discuss the implications of resource availability as well as methods to plan for and prioritize the use of resources, while considering ethical issues related to sustainability and resource scarcity.

Students in this course are provided with the opportunity to synthesize management content, theory, and practice to create their personal visions and goals. Students assess existing research and methods, reflect on their current approach to management, and purposefully plan for a future as a management professional who affects positive change. Students produce individual treatises that include essays on their values, beliefs, strengths, and weaknesses, which serve as a foundation for continued professional growth and development; thus, students become better equipped to meet the management challenges of an uncertain tomorrow.

Marketing for Competitiveness

Effective managers know that a clear understanding of the role of marketing, as well as a grasp of effective marketing practices, is essential for organizations to succeed in today's fast-paced, competitive environment. In this course, students gain a working knowledge of both marketing theory and the practical application of innovative marketing tools and strategies. Students also explore how product, price, place, promotion, and people contribute to the marketing mix as they explore research-based insights into consumer behavior. Topics include product and service differentiation, competitive analysis, relationship marketing, coordination of marketing functions, and distribution strategies.

Communicating Using Social and Digital Media

While some companies may still be asking, "Why should we care about social media?" most are now asking, "How can we leverage the power of social media?" In this course, students examine how social media has changed the way consumers interact with brands and apply elements of storytelling to develop a social media strategy for an organizational scenario. In addition, students explore issues of ethics, privacy, and media law that are heightened by social media and digital communication distribution. Topics include types of social media, audience appropriateness, reputation management, social media strategy, evaluation methods, and the communications regulatory environment, including media law and privacy.

Market Research and Customer Insights

Understanding consumer behavior is essential for developing and effectively marketing products and services. In this course, students can learn how to use customer data and insights to improve strategic marketing decisions and improve performance. Students have the opportunity to analyze factors that influence buyer behavior during all stages of the purchasing process and to consider how learnings can be translated into product strategy and related marketing decisions. Additionally, students will study market segmentation and targeting practices as a key means of differentiation.

Questions about our MS in Management program?

Questions about our MS in Management program?

We're here to help. Talk to your personal enrollment advisor for more information today. Please use our International Form if you live outside of the U.S.

We're here to help. Talk to your personal enrollment advisor for more information today. Please use our Domestic Form if you live in the U.S.

*Required Field

Academic Interests

Required

Degree Type*

Area of Study

Required

Choose a type of program *

We offer 2 online learning formats. Which one are you most interested in?

Course-Based: Follow our schedule

Tempo Learning: Set your own pace

I’d like information on both

Contact Information

Required

First Name *

Required

Last Name *

Invalid email address

Email *

Please provide a valid phone number

Phone Number *

Required

City

Please provide a valid zipcode

Postcode/ZIP

Required

Country

Additional Information

Required

Are you an active or retired U.S. military currently living outside the United States?

Get Started

By submitting this form, I understand and agree that Walden University may contact me via email, text, telephone, and prerecorded message regarding furthering my education and that calls may be generated using automated technology. You may opt out at any time. Please view our privacy policy or contact us for more details.

Required

By checking this box, I agree that Walden University may contact me by email, text message, autodialed telephone call, and prerecorded message at the contact information provided above regarding opportunities and offers to further my education. I understand that I may withdraw my consent at any time and that my consent is not a condition of any purchase. I have received the Walden University Privacy Policy.